Santa Barbara Zoo First Trip to Santa Barbara Zoo Species List (12/08/2022)

[Zoo Birding]

Hello ZooChat:

Continuing on my birthday week zoo visits, I finally got around to visiting the Santa Barbara Zoo. Honestly, I went there with the lowest expectations and not having the highest hopes for this zoo. Turns out, for a zoo that's comparable to the size of Sacramento Zoo, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of animals they had here. Because of their size, I was able to record without any problems the species they had.

I will BOLD and add [!!!] for species that weren't on any signage and BOLD in red species that I didn't see either due to being off exhibits (both of their walkthrough aviaries were open during my visit, which I was happy to experience).

Unlike my list for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, this shouldn't take me nearly as long.


Entrance and Courtyard Area

• Black swans (Cygnus atratus)
• Blue and gold macaw (Ara ararauna)
• Scarlet macaw (South American) (Ara macao macao)
• Prevost's squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii prevostii?)
• Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

 

[Zoo Birding]

Tropical Rainforest Aviary Section

Tropical Rainforest Walkthrough Aviary

• White-faced whistling-ducks (Dendrocygna viduata)
• Palawan peacock-pheasant (Polyplectron napoleonis)
• White-cheeked turaco (Tauraco leucotis leucotis)
• Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta ssp.)
• Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber)
• Malagasy sacred ibis (Threskiornis bernieri bernieri)
• Blue and gold macaw (Ara ararauna)
• Military macaw (Mexican) (Ara militaris mexicana)
• Scarlet macaw (South American) (Ara macao macao)
• Blue-faced honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis ssp.)
• Florida red-bellied cooter {turtle}? (Pseudemys nelsoni?)
• Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator) **
• Southern three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus) ***

** The Asian water monitor was in an enclosure on the wall towards the back part of the aviary
*** The southern three-banded armadillo was in the foyer that separates the main entrances of the walkthrough aviary.

Enclosure Outside of the Walkthrough Aviary

• Leopard tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis)
• Radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata)

Aviary Next to the Tropical Rainforest Walkthrough Aviary

• Black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus)
• Inca tern (Larosterna inca)
• Brown pelican (Californian?) (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus?)

 

[Zoo Birding]

Rainforest Passage

• Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis)
• Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti)
• Toco toucan (Ramphastos toco)
• White-faced saki (Pithecia pithecia)

Rainforest Passage Tunnel

• Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum)
• Coahuila box turtle (Terrapene coahuila)
• Mata mata (Chelus fimbriata)
• Yellow spotted river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis)
• Prehensile-tailed {Solomon Islands} skink (Corucia zebrata)
• Amazon tree boa (Corallus hortulana)
• Smoky jungle frog (Leptodactylus pentadactylus)
• Blue poison dart frog (Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus") [!!!] ***
• Dyeing poison dart frog (Dendrobates tinctorius alanis) [!!!] ***
• Green and black poison dart frog (Dendrobates auratus) [!!!] ***
• False water cobra (Hydrodynastes gigas)

*** Signage only lists them as just poison dart frogs.

 

[Zoo Birding]

Asia [Not formally named at the zoo but nearly all the animals in this section are native to Asia]

• Rhinoceros hornbill (Javan) (Buceros rhinoceros silvestris)
• Common raven (Corvus corax ssp.)
• Snow leopard (Panthera uncia)
• Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis)
• White-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar ssp.)
• Black Burmese mountain tortoise (Manouria emys phayrei)
• Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis)
• Western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata)

Wings of Asia Aviary

• Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)
• Marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris)
• Bornean crested fireback (Lophura ignita ssp.)
• Luzon bleeding-heart (Gallicolumba luzonica ssp.)
• Western {Blue} crowned-pigeon (Goura cristata)
• Japanese pond turtle (Mauremys japonica)

 

[Zoo Birding]

Australian Walkabout

Main Australian Walkabout Exhibit

• Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae novaehollandiae)
• Bennett's {Red-necked} wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus rufogriseus)
• Western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus)

Australian Bird Aviaries

• Tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides ssp.)
• Laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae ssp.)
• Greater sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita galerita)

 

[Zoo Birding]

California [Not the formal name for this area of the zoo but features animals native to California]

• California condor (Gymnogyps californianus)
• Turkey vulture (Western) (Cathartes aura aura)
• Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus ssp.)
• Island fox (Urocyon littoralis)
• Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)

 

[Zoo Birding]

Barnyard

• Navajo-Churro sheep
• Guinea hog
• San Clemente Island goat
• Domestic rabbit

 

[Zoo Birding]

Africa [Not the formal name for this area of the zoo but features animals native to Africa]

• Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
• Meerkat (Suricata suricatta ssp.)
• Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi)
• Southern ground-hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri)
• African lion (Panthera leo ssp.)
• African spurred {Sulcata} tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata)
• Fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) [!!!]

 

[Elena]

Africa [Not the formal name for this area of the zoo but features animals native to Africa]

• Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
• Meerkat (Suricata suricatta ssp.)
• Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi)
• Southern ground-hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri)
• African lion (Panthera leo ssp.)
• African spurred {Sulcata} tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata)
• Fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) [!!!]

Jasmin the fennec fox passed away on November 16, which is why you didn't see one. I don't think the zoo has announced yet whether they'll acquire more fennec foxes for that exhibit or use it for a different species. If I remember correctly, before it was used for fennec foxes, it housed black-footed cats, which actually better fit the African cat theme for that space by the lion exhibit.

 

[Zoo Birding]

South America [Not the formal name for this area of the zoo but features animals native to South America]

• Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
• Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
• Cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus)

 

[Zoo Birding]

This concludes my species list and observations for the Santa Barbara Zoo.

One thing I forgot to do that I will say now is that during my visit, their toco toucan was off-exhibit during my visit there.

An interesting thing to note was that they have two large aviaries for their Javan rhinoceros hornbills.

Their Australian Walkabout was a beautifully executed exhibit (I also got hit on by their resident emu LOL). For the second time, I saw that they mixed their laughing kookaburras with their tawny frogmouths.

If you haven't gone to the Santa Barbara Zoo, do visit them. Like I mentioned before, I came there thinking this would be a small and unexciting zoo but I was pleasantly surprised by their exhibits and their collections.

 

[Zoo Birding]

Jasmin the fennec fox passed away on November 16, which is why you didn't see one. I don't think the zoo has announced yet whether they'll acquire more fennec foxes for that exhibit or use it for a different species. If I remember correctly, before it was used for fennec foxes, it housed black-footed cats, which actually better fit the African cat theme for that space by the lion exhibit.

Oh that's sad to read. The zoo only put the signage about the species being "off-exhibit". It would be cool to see the black-footed cat make their return to that zoo, since (to my knowledge) they aren't a common sight in zoos.

Thank you for adding context to why I didn't see her during my visit.